Anticreeping device for railway rails



Feb. 27, 1934. COLBlE 1,948,561

ANTICREEPING DEVICE FOR RAILWAY RAILS Filed Dec. 23, 1950 ATTOR YPatented Feb. 27, 1934 ANTICREEPING DEVICE FOR RAILWAY RAILS Gus L.Colbie, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignor to Chase Appliance Corporation, NewYork, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application December 23, 1930Serial No. 504,244

Claims.

This invention relates to rail anchors and has especial reference tosuch as prevent the creeping of the rail.

A main object of the present invention is I to provide a rail anchor oranti-creeping device of a new and novel construction which is adapted tosecure a maximum grip upon the rail and which is simple, inexpensive,positive, easily applied and which acts to restrain rail movement ineither direction.

Further and more specific objects, features, and advantages will moreclearly appear from the detailed description given below when taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing which forms part of thespecifications and which illustrates a present preferred form of theinvention.

Briefly and generally considered, the invention comprises the ready andsimple attachment to the base of the rail of a spring clip or elementcapable of cooperating with well known types of rail plates and made ofspring steel or similar material which firmly grips the base of the railand yet has suificient resilient qualities to have a firm grip on anyrail to which it may be attached whether that rail is rolled to maximumor minimum base dimensions. Thus the rail anchor element or clip musthave suflicient deflective qualities without breaking to suit it to onetype of rail or the other. To meet the above requirements it has beenfound necessary to provide an anchor or clip element 'which contactswith the rail base at certain particular points only and with thesepoints located in a certain definite relation to each other andpreferably spaced a certain maximum distance apart. The clearance of theanchor from the rail base except at specified points and the particularlocation of the contact points permits it to be deflected slightly forlarge and small rails without disturbing its ability to firmly grip therail at the designated points and act properly as an anchor when in use.I contemplate a rail anchor so proportioned and shaped that the greatestpart of the grip on the rail base is closest to the lateral edge of therail base flange. This is secured by applying the leverage principle andspacing the contact points to secure the proper leverage ratio. With theform of rail anchor shown, I secure a tenacious grip on the rail at thelateral edge of the rail base flange nearly in line with the point ofresistance on the tie plate and there is no tendency to rotate the railclip as the rail starts to creep as is the case with the devices of thiskind previously known to the art. The

grip on the edge of the rail base flange is secured by a noveldisposition of the contact points to secure an increased leverage andthe provision of an extended upper portion of said rail gripping memberto secure said leverage and to provide the flexibility necessary foradapting said rail base gripping member to rail base flanges of varyingdimensions. Preferably the rail rests on a tie plate in which there isdisposed an opening or slot into which the lower part of the anchorelement lies. The opening and the adjacent face of the anchor elementare curved or have angular faces which will cause a jam or wedgelcck ofthe anchor element in the slot or opening in addition to the initialtension or grip of the rail anchor on the rail whenever there is theslightest tendency of the rail to creep along the tie-plate. The

cooperation is such that the clip is moved further on to the rail in awedging manner and, in a straight line longitudinal manner, that is tosay there is a straight movement of the clip onto the rail and nolateral twisting or swerving from this straight line path.

The drawing which illustrates one present preferred form of theinvention is arranged as follows:

Fig. 1 is a cross section through the rail and the tie-plate, taken onthe line 11 of v Fig. 2;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of a short section of the rail and tie-plateadapted to receive the anchor device of the present invention; and,

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the anchor element;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged side elevation of the rail anchor.

As shown the rail anchor or spring clip elemeat 10 is suitably curvedand shaped to be forced onto one of the base flanges 11 of the .rail 12.Due to unavoidable variations in the dimensions of the rail flanges orbase portions 11, it is necessary to provide an anchor element capableof considerable deflection withoutfailing or breaking, since the elementhas to be forced on to the rail flange rolled to maximum dimensionswithout exceeding the elastic limit of the material or setting up toohigh a stress, and still have sufficient hold or grip on the flangewhich may be rolled to a minimum dimension. To meet theserequirementsthere is herein provided an anchor element which is so proportionedshaped and curved that on top of the flange 11 there is a definiteclearance or space numbered 13 between the points 26 and 27 cf theanchor element and the edge of the rail flange 11. The rail anchor 10contacts with the rail at the points 24, 26, 27 and 28 and is providedwith clearance space at 13 and 14 intermediate the points of contact.

The space 13 between contacts points 26 and 27 is provided to permitflexing of the upper element of the anchor between said contact pointsto facilitate use on rails of different dimensions and to provideleverage to secure a substantial sustained grip on said rail baseflange. The contact points 24 and 2'7 are preferably located closetogether in order to effect a leverage or increased grip on the railbase flange near its lateral edge as nearly as possible in line with thepoint of resistance on the tie plate to minimize the tendency of theanchor to rotate or skew around on a vertical axis when the rail tendsto cr ep and the rail anchor becomes jammed between the edge of the railbase flange and the edge of the opening in the tie plate.

The clearances thus provided will permit the sufficient deflection ofthe clip or anchor element to fit different sized rail flanges withoutdisturbing or affecting the ability of the element to firmly grip therail flange. Generally speaking it will thus be observed that at itspoints or ends the clip or anchor element will contact with the upperand lower surfaces of the rail flange 11 and that along its middleportion it will also contact with the flange adjacent its edge.

The outer face of the anchor element 10 has angularly disposed surfacessuch as 15 and 1G and a lower corner such as 1'7 which is chamfered topermit its ready insertion and entrance into an opening or slot 18disposed in the tieplate 19 beneath the rail 12. This tie-plate and therail are held to the tie 20 in the usual manner as by spikes 21. Theouter faces of the slot or opening 18 are preferably angularly disposedin a manner similar to the faces 15 and 16 on the anchor element.Although it is to be understood that these faces of the opening 1'8 maybe curved or otherwise formed but in any event they are preferably of aformation similar to that of the adjacent faces on the anchor element.

In applying the present invention the anchor element is forced on to therail flange or base 11 by any suitable means such as a sledge or hammer,with the rail in a slightly raised position, after which the rail may belowered on to the tie-plate l9 and the anchor element 10 guided into theopening 18 assisted by the chamfered corner 17. It is only necessary toforce the anchor element far enough onto the flange 11 to permit thecham-fered corner 17 to enter the opening 18. After entry has beeninitiated the anchor element will be forced further on to the flange 11by the driving of the rail spikes 21. The tie-plate 19 is furtherprovided with a Iongitudinally extending upright shoulder 22 againstwhich the other rail flange 11 bears and against which said flange isforced when the anchor element and the spikes have been properly andfinally positioned.

As the rail starts to creep, the anchor element 10 which has a grip onthe flange 1 1 is carried between the adjacent edge of the rail flange11 and the adjacent sloping edge of the opening 18. Since this edge ofthe opening 18 forms an angle with the lateral edge of the rail flange11 and the rail anchor element has a corresponding angular curvedformation, a wedging action ensues which jams the rail and the anchorelement thereon to prevent creeping. The more the rail tends to creepthe more jamming action will take place and the tighter will the rail beheld. The jamming action takes place when the cam surface moves the clipfurther on to the rail .in a straight line longitudinal mannerpreviously described.

As the rail tends to creep the opposite flange 11 is forced tighter andtighter against the shoulder 22 of the tie-plate 19. After the necessaryallowedslack of the parts has been taken up, this wedging action locksthe rail from further movement. It is apparent that a certain smallamount of movement Will be initially permitted so that the parts can bereadily assembled and disassembled. The offset and locking position ofthe anchor element when in full effect is approximately indicated by thedotted lines in Fig. 2. The rail anchor element 10 and. the surfaces ofthe opening 18 are sloped and designed to have a similar action to wedgethe rail whether the rail moves in one direction or in the oppositedirection. Thus the action is a double action.

In order to reduce the bending moment on the rail anchor 10 due to theload resulting from the wedging action which has a tendency to break theanchor at any point between the end 24 beneath the rail flange 11 andthe lower corner 23 of rail anchor 10, it is preferred to construct theanchor or clip element 10 so as to have a slight angle a on the surfaceof the anchor as it curves around the edge of the rail flange as shownin Fig. 4. Said surface recedes from the upper edge of the opening 18 inthe tie-plate. By having contact between the rail anchor and thetie-plate at the upper edge of the tie-plate at 25, it is obvious thatthe greater portion of the strain resulting from the wedging action willresult in a shear load on the horizontal line at the top surface of thetie-plate rather than a bending moment tending to break the anchor llbetween the inside corner 23 and the end 24.

While the invention has been described in detail and with respect to thepreferred form shown in the drawing, it is not to be limited to suchdetails and forms since many changes and modifications may be made andthe invention embodied in other forms and modifications withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadestaspects. Hence it is desired to cover any and all forms andmodifications which may come Within the language or scope of any one ormore of the appended claims.

What is claimed, is,

1. An anti-creeping device for railway rails which comprises a curvedsubstantially U-shaped strap or clip of spring metal embracing the edgeof the base flange of the rail, the strap spaced from the flange exceptat its ends and near the edge of the flange, a tie-plate on which therail is disposed, said plate having an opening therein into whichopening the clip extends when in place, and means on the clip and thetie-plate for moving the clip on to the rail further in a straight linelongitudinal manner perpendicular to the center of the rail when therail tends to creep in either direction.

2. An anti-creeping device for railway rails which comprises a curvedsubstantially U-shaped strap or clip of spring metal embracing the edgeli'iii of the base flange of the rail, the strap spaced from the flangeexcept at its ends and near the edge of the flange, a tie-plate on whichthe rail is disposed, said plate having an opening therein, into whichopening the strap extends when in place, and angularly disposed surfaceson the strap and the opening abutting each other and causing the clip tobe jammed onto the rail in a straight line longitudinal manner when therail tends to creep in either direction.

3. An anti-creeping device for railway rails which comprises a clip ofspring metal embracing the edge of the rail base flange, a tie-platehaving an opening therein in which the clip normally lies, angular faceson the rear of the clip, angular faces on the adjacent face of theopening, said angular faces adapted to co-act to jam the clip onto therail in a straight line longitudinal manner when the rail starts tocreep from normal position in either direction, said clip spaced fromthe rail except at its ends and near its middle portion, the line ofcontact of the clip with the tie-plate being near the top of the openingin the tie-plate.

i. A rail anchor, comprising in combination, a shouldered tie platehaving an opening there thru, said opening having a cam shaped abuttingsurface, a rail gripping member adapted to grip the rail flange with aspbstantial sustained spring tension and adapted to abut said cam shapedsurface, said spring tension serving to maintain said rail grippingmember in looking or jamming relation with said cam shaped abuttingsurface and tie plate shoulder, said sus tained spring tension of saidrail gripping memher in combination with said jamming or look ingrelation serving to restrain longitudinal movement of said rail and tomove the clip further on to the rail in a straight line longitudinalmanner.

5. A clip having a wedging action, a clip rail engaging member having aplurality of surfaces adapted to contact a rail flange and maintaincontact regardless of any lateral movement of said clip, a tie-platehaving a cam shaped opening, a surface of which engages one portion ofthe clip on longitudinal movement of the rail and tie-plate, saidengagement moving the clip further on to the rail in a straight linelongitudinal manner perpendicular to the center of the rail whenever therail tends to creep in either direction.

6. A rail anchor, comprising in combination, a shouldered tie-platehaving an opening there thru, said opening having a cam shaped abuttingsurface, a rail gripping member adapted to grip the rail flange with asubstantial sustained spring tension and adapted to abut said cam shapedsurface, said spring tension serving to bring said rail gripping memberinto looking or jamming relation with said cam shaped abutting surfaceand tie-plate shoulder, said sustained spring tension of said railgripping member in combination with said jamming or look-- ing relationserving to restrain longitudinal movement of said rail and to move theclip further on to the rail in a straight line longitudinal mannerwhenever the rail tends to creep.

7. An anti-creeping device for railway rails which comprises incombination, a rail-baseflange-gripping clip having points of contactspaced apart and located to effect an increased leverage grip on saidrail base flange near its lateral edge, a tie-plate, said tie-platehaving a clip-receiving cam shaped aperture, said clip having acooperative relationship with said aperture to initiate, incerase, andmaintain a longitudinal straight line sliding Wedging grip between theclip and said flange at all times, whereby the clip is further moved onto the rail in a straight line longitudinal manner perpendicular to thecenter of the rail whenever the rail tends to creep in either direction.

8. An anti-creeping device for railway rails which comprises incombination, an apertured tie-plate, part of said aperture beingcamshaped, a rail base flange-gripping member in said aperture, saidcam-shaped portion and said member adapted to co-operate to effect alongitudinal sliding wedge locking of the member on the flange in astraight line manner perpendicular to the center of the rail wheneverthere tends to be any creeping of the rail with respect to thetie-plate.

9. An anti-creeping device for railway rails which comprises incombination a rail base flange gripping member having points of contactlocated to provide for a substantial range of deflection and to effect asustained grip on the flange in proximity to its lateral edge, acooperating tie-plate having an aperture to receive a part of saidgripping member, said aperture being formed to effect a longitudinalsliding wedging cf the member onto the rail upon a slight movement ofthe rail in either direction 10. An anti-creeping device for railwayrails which comprise in combination a tie-plate having an abuttingshoulder on one side of the rail base flange and an aperture inproximity to the other side of said rail base flange, a flange grippingmember adapted to be received in said aperture and to co-operatetherewith to effect a longitudinal sliding wedge lock of the memher onthe flange to restrain creeping of the rail in either direction.

GUS L. COLBIE.

